The Patience of Kings - Chapter 2

[alvericff]

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis or Universe, I am just playing in the world

Previously: Ch 1

The Patience of Kings - Chapter 2

Skies above the Ancient outpost, Antarctica, June 2004

"Remember, no matter what, we're here to protect SG-1 at all costs. Target the Al'kesh first, gliders second." Cam ordered his squadron over the radio. "Go low, boys and girls, Prometheus has our backs." He looked at the incoming armada of Goa'uld assault craft and fighters and clenched his jaw tight when his gaze flicked down to the small Tel'tak cargo ship riding a coring beam over the ice field. Sam was on that ship. He picked up on Lieutenant Banks behind him highlighting an Al'kesh as a target, one of the ones at the back. Adam knew him well. "Pass that target to Blues Two and Three as well, Banks. One bird each."

"Yes, sir." Banks did as ordered while Cam targeted the gliders on approach ahead of them as secondary targets.

"Fox Three." he called, hearing similar calls from his wingmen as three radar-guided missiles powered ahead of their flight and struck the underbelly of the Al'kesh, sending it spiralling away to its destruction in the ice below. "Fox Four, Fox Four." He opened up with his railguns at the incoming fighters, destroying one and then another before they hit the formation and flew through it. Cam turned the 302 on edge and corkscrewed his way in between the other craft.

"Break left." Banks called and Cam followed his guidance. "Two gliders at our three o'clock." Cam flicked his gaze up to the right and saw the crescent shaped wings of the alien fighters as they banked slightly away, homing in on one of the Terran spacefighters ahead of him. "They're targeting Blue Four."

"Redmond, you have two bandits on your six, take evasive action." he called into the radio as he saw Blue Two forming up on his wing.

"Copy that, Blue Leader." acknowledged the pilot who began juking his fighter randomly. Cam angled in behind the alien ships and his HUD lit up when he switched to his infrared guided short range missiles. The reticule narrowed on the glowing engines of the glider ahead of him and he knew Banks was coordinating with Blue Two's second seat to target the other fighter. The lock-on circle fixed in the reticule with a continuous tone and flashed red.

"Fox Two." he watched as his warhead sped ahead and corkscrewed in to the path of its target, along with Blue Two's own missile, headed for the other ship. Both exploded almost simultaneously as Cam turned sharply to the right to avoid the explosions. "Stay at my eight o'clock, Nash." he called to his wingman who acknowledged as they both broke back towards the main formation of alien ships to find new targets.

"Blues Six and Five with Al'kesh and gliders on their six." Banks called with a green highlight on a pair of friendly radar contacts. Cam flicked his gaze to his radar then broke left to catch up.

"Nash, take the kids, I'll get Momma." Cam switched back to his long range, active radar guided missiles and targeted the Al'kesh. Nash's selected targets highlighted on his HUD and they streaked in from the side. "Fox Three, Fox Three." he called firing his missiles, they blew a massive hole into the Goa'uld assault bomber's engine housing and it exploded in a fireball. He switched to guns and selected his wingman's targets. "Fox Four." Between the two of them they took out all of them, but only after they had destroyed one of the 302s. "Nash, stick with Six and take out his Al'kesh target."

"Copy that, Blue Leader." came the acknowledgement as his long time friend broke left to latch on to Blue Six's wing. Cam broke right in search of more prey.

"Contact, one bogey on the deck and inbound." called Banks from behind him. A target flashed red in his radar and he flicked his gaze at the Al'kesh flying straight for Sam's Tel'tak. He snarled and dove for it.

"Tally one." He slid in behind it and brought up his IR missiles. The lock-on indicator began zeroing in and the Al'kesh started twisting in its flight, banking straight at the cargo ship. It was about to open fire and he had to get it to veer off. "Fox Two, Fox Two." he called as he fired a pair of missiles without tone. It was enough. Even as the birds streaked past their wildly evading target, the Al'kesh had lost its own opportunity to fire. Cam blinked at the near-miss of his unguided warheads. They'd nearly taken out the alien ship. "So close." He was rocked by an explosion from behind as warning indicators started blaring.

"We've been hit, left thruster is down." Banks called as Cam was twisting around to try and get a look. "Contact, two bandits on our six." He grunted and pulled away from his target with a grimace. He'd need to concentrate on evasive manoeuvres with a damaged plane, no time for attack right now. He gripped the yoke and pulled hard right, firing his RCS thrusters to help turn the ship more tightly while staff cannon fire rained past his cockpit.

"Blue Leader, we've got your six." called Redmond over the radio from Blue Four as he dove in from above and destroyed one of the gliders with railguns. Cam twisted around again as the other continued to shoot at him. He pulled back to the left just as the glider behind him exploded after getting hit with a missile.

"Nice shot, Red!" Cam congratulated the other pilot as he flew past behind him. Cam looked over at two gliders coming in from his left and cursed, but before he could sound a warning over the radio, he heard a dull burst and Banks' call from the second seat.

"He's been hit!" the Lieutenant exclaimed and Cam cried out over the radio for a response from his wingman. "He's gone." Cam cursed and pulled his limping fighter back to the right and Prometheus.

Viridia, inside Muranis, September 2010

Sam shone her light at the darkened consoles inside the waist-deep horseshoe-shaped moat which girded the power distribution core of the sleeping spaceship. Cameron watched her from where he stood on the main engineering deck and then checked the display on his forearm. He gently tapped his helmet over his ear and Sam turned to face him with a little smile.

"So... how long do you think it will take you?" he asked and she looked around the core again.

"I'll need fifteen minutes to check things over, then I bet I'll just be able to flick her on with a thought." she replied after meeting his gaze again. Cam chuckled.

"Tell you what. I'll give you seventeen minutes." He said and gave her an evil grin when she frowned in confusion. He then touched a finger to the comm stud on his helmet. "~Galadia, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida for myself and Sam, if you'd be so kind.~" Sam's eyes widened and she nearly started laughing when the ship burbled an acknowledgement and the organ scale began, with the distorted, droning guitars following soon after. Cam's head began to bob back and forth on his neck and Sam shook her head at him, but turned to look over the consoles again.

"If you start singing I'll cut your oxygen lines." she warned and he laughed. It was an empty threat and he knew it. And sure enough, soon after that, she was the one who began singing and he joined in with her. While the song's long combination solo and break section played, Sam ran the small portable power generators to several stations, checking them over one by one, while they chatted about the things they'd learned from Merlin the day before.

During the guitar solo they discussed the revelation that Muranis' main function was as a vast probability simulator, taking scenarios and playing them out to likely conclusions. Effectively, a large systems modelling suite. The entire facility was meant to be the headquarters of the Alteran's seeding project in the Pegasus Galaxy, or Selerinus as it was originally going to be named before they left in Atlantis and settled on the name Lantica instead. The vaguely tribal sounding drum break brought a discussion of Kariala's main role as the expeditionary and military hub of the Alterans. Not to mention Sam's fascinated speculations as to how she was able to open up a hyperspace window large enough to pass the whole of Luna through. The organ solo brought with it talk of Selenis' role as the manufacturing and power generation base. Muranis and Kariala had manufacturing capability, including the ability to build ships as Viridia proved, but not on the same scale as Selenis. It was meant to be the main habitat as well, their base in the Pegasus galaxy, fixed in orbit at a planet while the more mobile Muranis and Kariala travelled as was necessary.

By the time the lead vocals started up at the end of the song Sam was nearly finished, so much so, that she was quite happy to sing along with him until the end of the song, then with her hand held towards him she snapped her fingers together as the song ended and Viridia's power core came online with both ZPMs shining brightly. Cam grinned at her as Sam raised her hand in a sweep from her waist to above her head and a field rose from the deck up to the ceiling. She unlatched her faceplate at the chin, raised it over her head and came to take his hands in hers.

"~Welcome aboard, descendants of the Altera, I am Viridia.~" murmured a breathy female voice from all around them. Sam smiled.

"~Thank you, Viridia. I am Dr. Samantha Carter of Terra, this is Colonel Cameron Mitchell, also of Terra. We have come from Selenis.~" she said with a glance up at the ceiling while Cam unlatched the front of his helmet.

"~I understand, Dr. Carter. I am speaking with my sister, Galadia, nearby.~" There was a pause before she continued. "~Muranis is silent.~"

"~Yes, Viridia, Muranis is still decoupled from the rest of the facility, but has been cleansed of the worm which infected him.~" Cam explained and Viridia made some vaguely pleased sounds.

"~Unfortunately, he is dying, and we are unable to reverse the damage.~" Sam added quietly to the general silence of the ship.

"~I understand.~" Viridia acknowledged slowly, hesitantly.

"~We're sorry, Viridia.~" Cam intoned. "~We would like to take you back to Selenis with us, if you have no objections.~"

"~I have none, Colonel Mitchell. Will Dr. Carter be my commander?~" Sam was nodding already.

"~Yes, Viridia, I'll take you through to Selenis. At least, once we find out if we can establish a wormhole with the Supergate or open the hangar bay doors behind it.~" Sam said as she moved between the consoles checking various readings. According to their shared dream, Viridia was unable to leave under her own power during the initial attack. It meant they'd have to find a way of reactivating the Supergate at this end or of opening the vast hangar bay doors with a direct, makeshift connection from the ship to the mechanism, if worse came to worst they could leave by jumper through the archive repository hangar and go through the Stargate on Muranis' home planet down below, then return with whatever they needed from Selenis to effect repairs, as they'd be able to calculate the proper Stargate address once in orbit themselves.

"~That will not be a problem, Dr. Carter. The Supergate was reinitialised by Ilemus and Jenavia Reia shortly after their arrival on Muranis.~" Sam looked over at Cam with a frown.

"~Please show me, Viridia.~" Sam asked and a hologram of the Supergate appeared in front of them with a location on the ring flashing slightly. Sam twirled her finger over it and let it zoom in until she could see that a section of the Supergate's outer edge had a limpet-like attachment of myriad machinery components.

"~Muranis overloaded the main control crystal within 0.7 seconds of his initial infection. It prevented me from opening a Supergate to provide an escape route for the engineers and scientists trapped within the facility completing his construction.~" the AI explained. "~However, it was not necessary for me to do so as it was not the infected Muranis' intention to cause loss of life. He allowed the facility's personnel to evacuate to Atlantus before attempting to initiate self-destruct procedures.~" Sam gasped and turned wide eyes to Cameron.

"~What do you mean 'attempting', Viridia? Why hasn't Muranis been destroyed?~" Cam asked. He was also wondering why Muranis had self-destruct systems when Selenis didn't.

"~I prevented it.~" the ship stated simply in her light voice. "~While trying to infect me with the worm, I piggy-backed a backtrace program and system core cut-off into Muranis' cortex which severed command and control relays to the self-destruct systems with controlled overloads. I then destroyed my communication relays to prevent infection. They were repaired by Jenavia Reia.~" Cam blinked and looked over at Sam as he hadn't understood much of that, but Sam just grinned and giggled.

"I think Viridia could be Andre's worst nightmare." she murmured to Cam with a glint in her eyes. "A sultry-voiced superhacker with absolutely no interest in him physically." Cam laughed.

Muranis, Hexsecti 1421 AL (Lantean years after Exodus)

Cameron looked around himself to see the strobing edges and arcs of the Alteran night-vision. One particular area in his line of sight was completely impossible for him to look at. Every time he tried to open his eyes while facing it, bursts of light and colour filled his mind and he was left gasping in pain and scrunching his eyes shut again.

"That's Muranis." said Sam from beside him and he reached for her without opening his eyes. She took his hand and pulled him to her. "I'm here, sweetheart." He grunted and held her close. "She leaned into him and whispered in his ear. "You have to choose not to see it. Tell yourself it isn't there." He chuckled bitterly.

"Sam, it's an explosion of light and all sorts of shapes and lines. How can I pretend it isn't there?" He felt her pulling back slightly and placing her fingers over his closed eyelids.

"Muranis is just cut glass, Cameron. Only glass. You can see right through him and there's nothing inside him." She rubbed her thumbs gently over his eyes. "Do you believe me?" He gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Just cut glass, you know Muranis better than me. If you tell me he's just glass, then he's just glass." he replied and he felt her brush her lips against his. She passed her thumbs over his brows and then took a step back from him.

"Look at me, Cameron." she ordered and he opened his eyes slowly to see Sam in her billowing skirt and flowing blouse. He smiled gently, it seemed that in her dreams, Sam liked to be the lady her mother expected her to be. He decided not to tease her about it though, she looked beautiful after all. He focused his gaze on her, knowing she was standing in front of the cut glass of Muranis. She reached her hand out and he stepped forward to take it in his. His eyes swept over the dark mass behind her with its faint edges delineating the various facets of the perfectly clear glass column. Sam smiled at him and rewarded him with a tender kiss, he smiled against her lips in response.

"Have you seen Ilemus and his buddies yet?" he asked when she pulled back. Sam nodded, hooking a thumb behind her. He followed her gaze as she turned and led him to the edge of Muranis and around the platform that circled around his bulk. They soon found Ilemus and Artros deep in discussion while Jenavia and Larensera were seated next to each other against the metal and glass railing around the edge of the wide platform. Larensera was watching the two men while Jenavia seemed to be asleep. She held her visor in slack fingers in her lap while her head leaned heavily on the Praetrio's shoulder. "I arrived a while before you, I think," Sam said as she turned to face him, "I heard you cry out and figured you'd taken your first look at Muranis." He grunted.

"That's what Ilemus sees when he looks at Muranis through the visor?" he asked and Sam shrugged.

"He probably sees more actually, remember the Alterans have far better senses than we do, at least it seems that way from everything we've learned thus far." she replied and he grimaced. "The whole time I've been here, Ilemus has been talking to Artros about what their plans are after decoupling Muranis and introducing the attack programs. Ilemus wants to go on to Kariala, I think, and do the same there. Artros wants to return to Atlantis for a while to regroup and resupply." She looked over at him and he raised an eyebrow at her serious look. "They both agree on one thing though."

"And what's that?" he asked. Sam looked at the two men as they continued to list pros and cons.

"They both agree they should leave aboard Viridia." she replied and Cam looked at her in confusion. "I know! Viridia is in the hangar so they obviously didn't leave in her." Cam hooked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the women. "Well, Jenavia has been sleeping the whole time I've been here." Sam walked over to them and crouched down beside the sleeping woman. "Larensera hasn't said anything, but I don't know what sort of protocols the Alteran military has in place with regards to troop autonomy. Maybe she can only follow what her commander decides or maybe she gets a say as well."

"Though just Ilemus and Artros seem interested in this discussion." he offered, looking at the faintly glowing and broken outlines of Jenavia's features as she slept. He frowned slightly before turning around.

"That's right." Sam nodded as she came to slip her hand in his as he watched the two men. Artros looked away and nodded for a moment before turning around and walking back towards the catwalk platform.

"~We'll keep discussing as we go, Ilemus, this is a very important decision and shouldn't be rushed.~" he said in some sort of conclusion and Ilemus simply nodded.

"~I agree, Praediae. We can certainly keep discussing this up until we must decide in which direction to depart with Viridia.~" he replied and Artros chuckled.

"~I look forward to it.~" They could make out that he was smiling below his visor as he spoke. Ilemus walked over to Larensera and the sleeping Jenavia and came down on one knee in front of them.

"~How is she doing, Laren?~" he asked gently and the soldier turned her head to glance at the sleeping woman.

"~Far too tired for my liking. She's been up nearly eighty hours with only short hour-long naps like this every twenty-five.~" She frowned gently as she reached up to brush at the woman's wavy hair as it drifted down her neck and shoulder. "~She works too hard for you Ilemus, always has.~" she looked reprovingly at the older man who smiled slightly and nodded. "~Remember, she is still young.~" Ilemus chuckled softly.

"~And you're not, Praetrio?~" He reached over and patted the soldier on the shoulder.

"~I have training and enhancements,~" she grumbled, "~she only has her will and the need to please her mentor.~" Ilemus nodded and patted the sleeping woman gently on the head. "~Give her a little more time before you begin again.~" she kept the pleading tone out of her voice, but it was plain to see on her face, even in the lines and arcs of the night-vision. Ilemus nodded.

P7X-611, September 2010

Cameron did his best to show no outward reaction to Pamuin's words. It was hard. The Aschen, a race which conquered the worlds near their own under a façade of philanthropic benevolence. A mask which hid their real strategy of genetically engineered plagues and sterility inducing 'cures'. They were calculating, patient, perceptive and very arrogant. Earth had only just avoided becoming another of their conquests and had had no contact with them since leaving them with a list of Stargate addresses which opened on decidedly unpleasant locations. Cam had been hoping the Ori had done them in.

"That is fascinating, Ser Pamuin. They make it rain?" Sam asked the merchant genially. "Are they here now?" Oh, clever girl. He really did love her to bits.

"Not currently, no, Sar Angharad. They have not been here for several hands." replied the trader.

"Oh, how unfortunate, I would have loved to see them making rain." Sam murmured with a slight pout. He had to clench his jaw to keep from reacting to how adorable that was. "You must tell me all about it, Ser Pamuin." she pressed enthusiastically. The merchant described how the pair of Aschen paid the town council for allowing them to conduct their experiments in the nearby area. He claimed they would then hire a fishing boat for a day and take it several miles offshore while constructing an elaborate machine on the deck. From this machine they would fire a beam of energy upwards into the heavens and a swirl of angry clouds would begin to form after several hours. Prevailing winds would take the moisture-heavy clouds in to shore and the area around the town would be wracked with a heavy, though otherwise harmless, rainstorm for upwards of two days. Nothing Pamuin and his kith were not already used to. "It is a great pity I have missed such a display." Cam was pretty sure Sam wasn't trying very hard to put on an act when she said that.

"Well, perhaps I can be of some further use to your good self in such a matter, Sar Angharad." Pamuin obviously smelled the opportunity of a tidy profit which Sam had left dangling out there. She tilted her head inquisitively. "If I had a means of contacting you, I could, for a small concession of course, apprise you should they make a return to my fair world."

"For a small concession, of course." Sam nodded with a little smile. "However, the Stargate on my homeworld is protected, not just anyone may walk through and visit. I should be able to arrange a means of communication by which you could inform me the next time such an intriguing spectacle is in the offing." Pamuin smiled happily. "I shall return and discuss terms sometime in the future, Ser Pamuin, would this be agreeable?"

"Of course, Sar Angharad, most agreeable." he replied and Sam gave him a small smile then glanced over at Cam.

"It is past time for our luncheon, is it not?" she asked her 'bodyguard'. He lifted his left hand, with its bundle of cloths, to look at the round face of the bulky chronometer laced to a wide leather strap wrapped around his wrist, his dark metal clasp in disguise, and gave a nod of confirmation. "Ser Pamuin, would you care to suggest an establishment in your fair town where we could have our midday meal?" The merchant directed them to a seafront eatery not far along the wharf which served some fine samples of the local cuisine. It was entirely coincidental that it was owned and operated by his sister. Sam thanked him and signalled for Cameron to lead the way. He grunted and threw a conciliatory nod in Pamuin's direction before making sure the small crowds parted before his 'employer'.

Shortly thereafter, the pair found themselves seated at an outdoor table along a wooden deck overlooking the sea, it was a bit early in the day for the locals to be eating so they had the deck to themselves. Everyone knew outworlders kept odd hours. Cam had brought them two glasses of the local fermented fruit juice. To keep up their cover, of course. He reached into his pocket as he sat across from Sam and handed her his radio. She gave it a double tap and waited for the signalled reply before raising it to her lips.

"Daniel, Vala, we've heard something very interesting here in the town." she began in a soft voice. "It seems every several weeks the town sees a visit from a pair of Aschen, who then busy themselves making it rain."

"I think your joke is missing the punchline, Samantha, it went right over my head." Vala replied in rather clipped tones. Sam cringed in Cam's direction and he knew exactly what she meant. Vala did not sound happy.

"I'll fill you in on the Aschen, Vala," Daniel broke in over the radio, "do you think they're involved, Sam?"

"Daniel, just finding out the Aschen are wandering around outside their Confederation is bad enough, but yes, I think they're involved." she replied after getting a slight nod from Cam after she glanced up. This would be too much of a coincidence.

"That's not good, Sam." Daniel added and Sam snorted. "I'm with Vala on the whole rain thing though. Over my head."

"I'll explain it when we wrap things up and go back to the SGC, Daniel," Sam returned, "but my theory is: no rain, no meet. Sit tight as per the schedule and give Teal'c a heads up, okay? Oh, and Vala, Cam and I'll bring you guys something good to eat when we head back to the 'gate." She added a little double tap to indicate a return to radio silence, but it didn't stop Vala from breaking in over the comms.

"I love you, Samantha!" Sam giggled and handed the radio back to Cameron. He threw her a puzzled look and she motioned for him to sit next to her so he switched to the bench against the wall of the building. It had a view of the sea anyway. She leaned her head close to his after he settled and began her explanation with a question. "What's your stand out memory about the two meetings we've managed to be present for?" His eyes widened at her implication and she nodded. "I think the rain is an important component of their counter-surveillance strategy. I think the interference patterns Selenis was unable to filter out use the true randomness of the rainfall in its effect. The shielding I added may work, but I'm not confident."

"Could you filter it out now that you know more?" he asked and she glanced his way with a look of uncertainty.

"Not at a physical level. Maybe as a software filter, but it's doubtful." she replied before quieting down when a waitress approached with the food they'd ordered inside. They were tucking into their meal when another question struck him.

"Do you think Pamuin's ever seen a Hebridan comm unit?" He paused long enough from his eating to give her a quick glance along with the question. She shrugged indifferently and only replied when she'd finished chewing.

"It doesn't matter, we have some anyway. We mark it and give him the address for one of our off-world relay stations and they can act as a messaging service." She put on a perky upbeat voice with stilted inflections. "Complete with an automated Tech Con communications package for that authentic Hebridan experience." Cam chuckled and she smiled before leaning against him. "As far as Pamuin will know, he'll be talking to the communications center for one of Hebridan's colonies." He nodded.

"Well at least we'll know the next time they come here. How about the other worlds?" he asked. She grimaced slightly.

"I think this town's proximity to its Stargate is a factor in the Aschen actually needing to reveal themselves." she replied and it was Cam's turn to grimace.

Stargate Command, September 2010

"The accountants?" Jack asked incredulously of Sam as they sat around the briefing room table with the rest of SG-1 and Colonel David Dixon and his SG-2 team. General Landry raised an eyebrow in O'Neill's direction at the sudden outburst.

"Accountants with a penchant for conquering other planets, sir." Sam offered and Jack drummed his fingers on the desk. "We were this close," she held her thumb and index finger infinitesimally apart, "to applying to join their Confederation." she reminded him.

"And you know what the most popular theory for 'the note' is, General." Cam added to Jack's ugly grimace.

"Don't remind me, Mitchell. The Aschen are not on my Christmas card list, okay?" He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Just hearing the name again gives me the heebie-jeebies." He made a show of shivering. Daniel drew his lips into a tight line. "And you think they're the ones meeting with Masim?" Sam nodded. "Do I want to know why your mission report said it was to do with rain?" Sam shook her head. Jack turned towards Colonel Dixon. "You have some corroboration, Colonel?" Dixon nodded and signalled to his second, a rangy Captain with fine features under feathered red locks down to her jawline.

"Yes, sir, Captain Lewis will show you the video we managed to recover." Sam knew Riley well enough, the younger officer sometimes came by her lab with some interesting equations. The redhead stood and made her way to the multimedia equipment at the end of the room behind the Generals, they all turned to face her.

"When Masim's counterpart came through the Stargate the field went up almost immediately, it seems they send a device through first which projects the field." She began playing the video from a camera located on a tree a small distance from the 'gate as it was lashed by persistent rainfall. As it played they saw the Stargate open a wormhole and then a small device came through the event horizon and the field ballooned up from just in front of the 'gate just as a man could be seen coming through.

The video then switched over several cameras in sequence, some with views from outside the field while others were supposedly within it. Their feeds were garbled and blurry, distorted almost beyond recognition.

"Unfortunately, Dr. Carter's hardware shielding was only barely successful and not particularly effective." She looked at Sam with chagrin, but Sam shook her head with a smile, acknowledging the inadequacy. "That is, until the end of the meeting, sir, when the rain let up a little for several minutes. We theorise it is part of the reason why they seemed to rush through the last couple of topics." Jack looked at her with raised eyebrows and a tilt of his head. "You see, sir, without the rain, their counter-surveillance field became far less effective." She motioned towards the video which looked like it was seeing the world through bubbled glass. "Enough that we were able to enhance the video to eliminate almost all the distortion." What they saw was Masim standing alongside a man with a pallid face and sharp features, his hair combed back severely, dressed in a long tunic and trousers in shades of grey. The fish-eye lens of the camera, mounted discretely on the Stargate itself, captured the man reaching into a pocket on his tunic and pulling out a flat ovoid which he placed on the surface of the 'gate once everyone had stood off to the side. The kawoosh came very soon after that and the man left after retrieving the ovoid and acknowledging Masim with a nod of his head.

"That device powered and dialled the Stargate." Vala offered, pointing at the video. The young redhead nodded.

"That's what we think too." confirmed Dixon from his seat. "Which is why you guys weren't able to get anything except Lucian Alliance worlds from the DHDs before."

"What of their discussions, Captain Lewis?" Teal'c asked lightly of the Captain by the television. She shook her head sadly.

"Like the recordings from the meeting Colonel Mitchell and Dr. Carter were present for, they spoke in generalities and euphemisms, sir." she replied and Teal'c lifted an eyebrow at being called 'sir' by the young woman. "Not even a hint of anything specific like last time either, though there was one topic that seemed to be if not urgent, then at least imminent, no idea what it is of course."

"We've got the boys down at the lab checking it out." Daniel elaborated. Jack turned to stare at him with raised eyebrows. "What?"

"The boys down at the lab?" he teased to Daniel's heavy frown. Vala was biting her lower lip while Sam tried her hardest to keep the corners of her mouth from curling upwards. "Have we been watching a lot of cop shows lately, Daniel?" Teal'c closed his eyes momentarily while turning away and taking a deep breath. Cam clamped his jaw down as tight as he could.

"You have no idea, General." Vala intoned mock-gravely. Captain Lewis covered her mouth with her fingers and turned to face the window overlooking the embarkation room. Sam looked on with difficulty while the rest of SG-2 save Colonel Dixon were all trying to belay any displays of amusement by coughing into their hands or screwing their eyes shut. Dixon, as Cam always reminded her, had special ops training to prevent this sort of thing.

"You know what I mean, Jack." Daniel said in a stiffly controlled voice.

"Yes, we do, Dr. Jackson." conceded General Landry in an attempt to rescue the situation. "This does seem to paint the Aschen as our culprits." Sam had to grimace slightly at that.

"I don't know about that, sir. There are still several unanswered questions." she intoned with a little look from Landry to Jack. "What little wreckage we recovered from the warheads used in the attack bear absolutely no resemblance to any technology we know the Aschen use. Admittedly, it's not as if we got any schematics from them before they attempted to hit us with a bioweapon once we confirmed their intentions, but even cursory analysis shows little similarity."

"What do you mean, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Well, sir, it would be as if I showed you the Prometheus, and then told you that the next ship we built was the Biliskner." She hoped that would effectively summarise her point.

"Why didn't you say the O'Neill?" Jack demanded with a slight frown. Sam closed her eyes with a sigh before turning towards Cam who rolled his eyes.

"I assume because your head's big enough as it is, Jack." Daniel taunted and Jack turned the frown full force on his friend.

"There's also the question of just how the Aschen know about Destiny, sir." Cameron added from beside Sam, she gave him a little grateful smile. "Our understanding is that they had absolutely no knowledge of the Ancients save access to a limited network of Stargates."

"Fair point. However, we should go with Occam's Razor until you can get anything more definitive." Jack intoned as he stood up, Cam and all of SG-2 stood up immediately. "I'll take this to the Joint Chiefs, tell them we're making progress at last." He frowned in disgust. "Ya know what else comes to mind when I think of the Aschen?"

"Kinsey." Sam, Daniel and Teal'c intoned as one. Jack nodded and walked out with another theatrical shiver.

"You get your boys down at the lab working overtime, Danny-boy!" he called with a wave over his shoulder. Daniel buried his face in his hands.

"Alright, people, settle down." Landry waved them all back to their seats. "We're going to go over all six planets with an eye to possibly use this Aschen rain making to our advantage in identifying the next meeting point. Ideas?" Riley Lewis sat back down next to her team leader and frowned slightly.

"Only one other planet has a settlement remotely close to the Stargate, General." she pointed out. "Dr. Carter's method might work for that one too, but it leaves four more that would require us to have eyes on the ground to find them."

"Or eyes in the sky." Cam muttered. "It'd be nice to put up some spy sats in geo-synchronous orbit." He glanced up at Sam with a smirk. "Think the DoD will spring for some?" Sam blinked at him with wide eyes. "What is it, Sam?"

"Uh, we may already have them in place." she breathed to everyone's surprise.

"What do you mean, Samantha?" Vala asked from her other side. Sam turned to look at her then to the expectant face of General Landry. "Sir, we should check to see if those four systems have Ancient satellites linked in to Hypraxia. We'd be looking for the energy signature of their rain seeding beam, but that's the sort of thing those satellites are designed to do. It's just a question of whether they're sensitive enough to be able to pick out the readings from their orbital tracks around their assigned star."

"I want an answer to that question in the next few days, Dr. Carter." General Landry ordered before holding up a file given to him earlier by his daughter, Dr. Carolyn Lam. "At least our tests show the rain isn't harmful in any way." He stood up once again and the Air Force personnel stood along with him. "SG-1, SG-2, you're dismissed. Teal'c, you may head off to Chulak when you're ready. Mitchell, Carter, can I see you in my office a moment?" Sam turned to Cameron and saw her own curiosity reflected back in his eyes. She stood and passed her hand along Vala's shoulder with a reassuring smile to Daniel and Teal'c as she walked by and waved a general farewell to the members of SG-2 as they walked out together. She and Cameron both decided to lean on the cabinet under the board with the General's unit badges after they'd closed the door in response to his waved finger. He looked at them both as if about to give them very bad news.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Cameron asked as he crossed his arms defensively, tensing slightly. Sam leaned against him unconsciously. Landry looked down a moment with a troubled look before meeting both their gazes in turn.

"I'm not happy that I have to do this to you, Cameron, Sam." He sighed and Sam's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "I have to order you to... The Joint Chiefs have made it very clear to me that you are both expected to..." He grimaced and Sam was almost panicking now. She was so sure they were free and clear of any hassles with the fraternisation regulations.

"Just tell us, Hank." she said softly. Landry looked up at the use of his given name. Sam had never actually addressed him that way before. Cam uncrossed his arms so he could take her hand in his. She covered it with both of hers and held on tightly. Landry looked away from them for a moment before turning to face them again.

"The IOA is hosting a private dinner for ranking members of the House and Senate committees with military oversight. Representation from the SGC in general and SG-1 in particular has been made mandatory. I have to order you both to get drunk and go dancing." There was a long moment of sullen silence.

"With politicians, sir?" Cam asked in a broken voice.

"With bureaucrats, Mitchell." Landry elaborated and Sam groaned in horror along with her fiancé.

On to Chapter 3